Saturday, June 16th, will be the 7th Annual Midtown Make a Difference Day.  The City of Kingston in conjunction with the Everette Hodge Community Center, the Kingston Library, the Rose Women’s Care Service, the Y.W.C.A., Ulster BOCES, Center for Creative Education and Kingston Cares have joined together with local community-based agencies and businesses to sponsor this event. The festivities begin at 11:00 a.m. and run until 3:00 p.m. The event will occur on Franklin Street between Broadway and Prospect Street.

In honor of Healthy Ulster’s “Let’s Move” initiative the theme for this year’s Make a Difference Day is “Let’s Move in Midtown Kingston!” There will be on-site instruction for Zumba, Soul Line Dancing, and other dances as well. There will be performances by The Energizers and Team Leggo.  A “Midtown Olympics” course will be set up for children and teens to enjoy friendly competition and win exciting prizes.

Forty-plus community-based organizations will be on hand to share information on topics such as health, education, legal, recreation and more.There will be food, snacks, door-prizes, arts and crafts, a chalk-walk mural contest and recipe demonstrations. There will also be indoor opportunities at two anchor locations. The Kingston Library will host this year’s Bicycle Safety Courses which are required for youth who wish to be entered for the chance to win a free bicycle.

Ulster BOCES will be available at the Everette Hodge Center for adults seeking employment, resume assistance or information on going back to school. Local garden mentors from the Dig Kids, a gardening program sponsored by the Kingston Land Trust and Kingston Cares, will be on hand to give tours of the Children’s Garden at the Everette Hodge Center throughout the day.

Guest speakers include City of Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo, Kingston High School Principal Adrian Manuel and Fourth Ward Alderwoman Shirley Whitlock.

Admission, food and all activities are all FREE due to the generosity of the sponsors. A full list of sponsors will be available at www.midtownmakeadifferenceday.org  prior to the event. The event is rain-or-shine. For further information, please contact Megan Weiss at Kingston Cares at (845) 331-1110 or845-594-6997.